February 13th 2009
Three Sorry, Frightening Weeks
What Obama did in his first three weeks in office is frightening – but not nearly as frightening as the fact that most of America is whistling dumbly along with it, or worse, actively supporting it. Don’t they get it?
In their defense, so much has happened so quickly – and so shielded from easy public view – that it’s hard to keep up with just how eventful the first three weeks of Obamadom have been. Fortunately, Randall Hoven at The American Thinker has dug through the archival electrons and compiled a list, Change: The First Three Weeks. Here’s just one day, for example:
January 30, “Payback the Unions and Keep Joe Busy Day.”
* Obama issued an Executive Order on “Notification of Employee Rights Under Federal Labor Laws”, which revokes George W. Bush’s Executive Order 13201, which forced employers to notify employees of their rights. However, government contractors will be forced to “post a notice, of such size and in such form, and containing such content as the Secretary of Labor shall prescribe, in conspicuous places in and about its plants and offices.” So the notices will no longer contain what President Bush wanted them to contain (e.g., their rights under the law), but what the new Secretary of Labor wants them to contain.
* Obama issued an Executive Order on “Economy in Government Contracting”, which says government contractors will no longer be reimbursed for “any activities undertaken to persuade employees to exercise or not to exercise” the right to organize and bargain collectively.
* Obama issued an Executive Order on “Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts”, which says a government contractor can’t just hire who he wants, but must first try to hire the same people who worked for the previous contactor – the contractor who likely lost a competitive bid to the new contractor.
* Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum on “White House Task Force on Middle-Class Working Families.” This puts Joe Biden in charge of a task force to “focus on raising the living standards of middle-class working families.” The task force must provide annual reports on its findings and recommendations..
The next day was even more stupefying:
February 3, “Being President is Hard Day.”
* Tom Daschle withdrew as Secretary of Health and Human Services due to controversy involving failure to fully pay his taxes from 2005 to 2007. He ultimately paid $128,000 in back taxes plus $11,964 in interest. He was also criticized for his lobbying ties to the health industry, after having made over $5 million in the last few years.
* Nancy Killefer withdrew as deputy director at the Office of Management and Budget and the first “performance officer” in the White House due to tax problems, including failure to pay unemployment compensation on household help.
* According to the Financial Times, “India has warned US President Barack Obama that he risks ‘barking up the wrong tree’ if he seeks to broker a settlement between Pakistan and India over the disputed territory of Kashmir… the new US administration was in danger of dredging up out of date Clinton administration-era strategies… The warning comes as Richard Holbrooke, Mr Obama’s special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, prepares to come to the region for the first time.”
* Support for Obama’s stimulus package, now flirting with a $900B price tag, fell to 37%, according to Rasmussen.
* Iran denied visas to the US Women’s Badminton Team, sent by the US in hopes of easing tensions between the two countries.
* Iran launched its first satellite into space. According to Voice of America , “to leaders and analysts in the west, the satellite launch represents a forward step in Iran’s apparent quest to be both nuclear capable and able to deliver a warhead on target.”
It’s like presidential elections are really important or something. Like, you know, we should, like, know who we’re voting for and all. Whatever.
Posted in Obama Drama | No Comments yet » | |
Leave a Reply
[The "Comment Box" is WYSIWYG except that you have to double space between paragraphs!
Type it the way you want it to look -- Just remember to double up those line spaces.]
You must be logged in to post a comment.
